Date

2017

Author

Aksoy, Esma

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Housing affordability has been a major topic of interest both for researchers and policy makers in many countries. However, in the Turkish case, research on housing affordability is scarce. The problem of housing has usually been considered as a quantitative deficiency problem in Turkey, and for many decades any other dimension of the problem is neglected. Increasing the housing stock in numbers has always been given priority by the Turkish governments. This tendency to support new housing production has continued in the 2000s. Currently, the issue of housing affordability becomes a relevant topic of research and policy than ever in the Turkish context owing to the negative effects of policies adopted after 2002 on the lowest and low-income households’ housing affordability. This study, considering the housing affordability as a gradually worsening problem in the Turkish cities, has two major arguments: Increased housing production in the country did not contribute to the housing affordability of low-income households, and the extent of the housing affordability problem displays differences in different housing markets. In this context, this study empirically examines the housing affordability of households with respect to mode of tenure, household income, and TR Level-1 regions. Findings of the study reveal that the extent of the housing affordability problem in Turkey differs with respect to tenure modes, income, and regions. For all income categories, tenants are devoting more of their income for housing expenditures compared to owner-occupiers. Among owner-occupiers, it is the lowest and low income households who experience housing affordability problems. For all households in the lowest income category, housing affordability is a problem that prevents them to maintain their minimum standards of life. However, the most compelled group is the lowest income tenants in TR1 region (İstanbul). Furthermore, changes in affordability rates display that increased housing supply did not affect the lowest income tenants positively in any TR regions of Turkey. The major conclusion of the study is that housing policies which consider the whole country as a uniform housing market with standard households will eventually be unsuccessful. Housing policies, to achieve their aims, should consider the local and area based circumstances and problems. 

Subject Keywords

Housing policy., Housing, Income distribution., Low-income housing., Housing development.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12620805/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/26364

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis